12:14 PM CDT on Friday, July 21, 2006

By CHRIS HAWES / WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV

Ashley Steele says her situation can happen to any woman using the patch.

Ashley Steele was just 20 years old the first time she faced death. She was in the emergency room after nearly fainting.

"Finally they concluded that I did have multiple clots in the lung," she said.

Her body had become a threat.

"Immediately I thought, 'Am I going to die?"

Steele blamed a popular birth control method—a patch that releases estrogen—for her near-deadly clots.

Dallas attorney Kevin Buchanan is handling Ashley's case, along with five others, against Ortho-McNeil, the maker of the Ortho Evra patch. "I don't think this drug should be on the market," Buchanan said.

In the past few months, the number of attorneys involved in a consolidated lawsuit against Ortho-McNeil has more than tripled. Buchanan said a new study has provided ammunition, in the form of science, and now plaintiffs are piling on.

"I expect hundreds of these cases to be filed," Buchanan said.

The Ortho Evra patch now includes a warning about higher levels of estrogen exposure. In a news release, the Food and Drug Administration said, "in general, increased estrogen exposure may increase the risk of blood clots. However, it is not known whether women using Ortho Evra are at a greater risk of experiencing these adverse events."

Ashley Steele told her friends using the patch not to wait for more research. "People think it's just a rare situation, but I'm proof it can happen to anybody," she said.

News 8 tried to talk to the attorneys representing Ortho Evra; our attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.

A statement on the company's Web site said most side effects of the patch are not serious, and those that are occur infrequently.

If you're on the patch, you're no doubt wondering what to do next. We turned to the FDA for advice.

The agency's official position is that it's continuing to monitor safety reports, and that women who are concerned should have a detailed conversation with their doctors about the risks.

E-mail chawes@wfaa.com